Spring seat for a sofa-bed



Feb. 28, 1956 s U 2,736,367

SPRING SEAT FOR A SOFA-BED Filed Aug. 17, 1955 IN VEN TOR.

4511744.; amp, Yfl 4 United States Patent SPRING SEAT FOR A SOFA-BED Albert Myron Spound, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application August 17, 1953, Serial No. 374,663

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-180) This invention relates generally to furniture and more particularly to a sofa which is adapted for conversion to a bed.

One of the problems associated with a sofa-bed of the type which forms the subject of the present invention lies in the utility of the piece both as a sofa and as a bed. That is to say, it has proven most diflicult'in the past to provide a comfortable sofa which also can be made into a bed having restful properties comparable to those of a conventional bed. Contrariwise, were a comfortable sleeping surface provided, it could not be readily transformed into a sofa of desirable proportions and resiliency.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a piece of furniture which is so constructed as to be readily convertible from a sofa to a bed and vice versa, and yet which is particularly Well suited for supporting one or more persons in a sitting or reclining position.

Briefly, the novel features of a sofa-bed according to the present invention which enhance its utility may be summarized as follows. Rather than a conventional innerspring mattress, a mattress of foam rubber is utilized, one piece of foam rubber being moulded in the shape of the back and another in the shape of the seat. The foam rubber is moulded to form a cap having a top surface and side flanges. The foam rubber fits over the respective top surfaces of the seat and back so as to cover a portion of their sides where it is firmly secured with strips of binding material. The side flanges of the foam rubber mattress incase box springs used in the seat and back and prevent any misalinement of the mattress with respect to the spring. Consequently there is formed a unitary structure of extremely desirable resiliency. Another feature of this invention relates to the matter in which the upholstery or covering material is fastened to the seat and back. Thus, two strips of cloth, generally called stretch cloths, are sewn not only to the respective pieces of covering material associated with the seat and back, but also to each other, with the result that at the joint between seat and back, the appearance is virtually one of asingle covering. Aside from the esthetic improvement obtained thereby, the back and seat form a more comfortable sleeping surface when oriented in the same plane. This is because the joint between the two being more completely masked, presents little or no hump. or depression as may be found in other sofa-beds of this general type. i

Another feature of this invention is to provide a foam rubbermattress that will not shift out of alignment with respect to thespring when pressure is applied and which will have a perfectly flat 'sleepingsurface when the sofa is converted into a bed. In the prior art, all the molded foam rubber mattresses, having a lip or edge of necessity had a round or curved sleeping surface. To avoid the above, it was necessary to do away with the lip or edge, thereby creating the problem or misalignment of spring and rubber mattress.

Still another feature is the arrangement of the arms of 'ice the sofa-bed whereby they serve as a pillow or head-rest when the back and seat are coplanary positioned. In particular, the arms are situated only a small distance above the seat and are inclined at an angle well suited for this purpose. Also included is a detachable arm conforming in' size and shape to each of the arms of the sofa-bed. This detachable arm serves to effectively extend one of the fixed arms for the full width of the bed. It is readily attachable to the sofa-bed when arranged as a bed, and readily detachable in the opposite case. With an arrangement of this sort, the usable length of the sofabed for persons in a reclining position is considerably increased with the result that a relatively tall person is easily accommodated.

Accordingly, it is another object of this invention to provide a sofa-bed having a mattress of foam rubber which is moulded to the respective contours of the back and seat.

It is still another object to provide a sofa-bed which is easily manufactured and yet is particularly well suited for supporting one or more persons in a sitting or in a reclining position.

It is further an object to provide a sofa-bed which utilizes improved means for fastening the covering material at the joint betweenthe seat and the back.

It is still a further object to provide a sofa-bed having arms particularly suited for use as a pillow rest and including a detachable arm, which may be used to effectively extend one of the fixed arms for the full width of the bed.

Other novel features of this invention together with further objects and advantages thereof will be more readily understood when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the sofa-bed according to. this invention arranged as a sofa;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the sofa-bed of this invention arranged as a bed;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the sofabed arranged as in Figure 2 and including the detachable arm also in accordance with this invention;

Figure 4 is a view in elevation of the hinge utilized for positioning the back and seat of the sofa-bed of this invention;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the back and seat of the sofa-bed arranged as in Figure 2 and having cut-away portions to show in detaail the foam rubber mattress further in accordance with this invention; and

Figure 6 is a sectional view of the sofa-bed in accordance with this invention arranged as in Figure 2 and showing the manner in which the covering material is fastened at the joint between the back and the seat.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like elements are designated by the same reference characters there is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 the sofa-bed according to this invention arranged as a sofa and as a bed, respectively, and comprising a seat assembly 10, a base member 11, a pair of side members 12, one of which is not shown, and a back assembly 13. Also included in the sofa-bed are arms 14 whichare substantially rectangular in cross section and which are joined to sides 12 at an acute angle with respect to seat assembly 10. More specifically, base member 11 is rectangular in shape, being supported in a horizontal position by means of legs 15, one of which is located at each corner of base member 11. When the sofa-bed is arranged as a sofa, as shown in Figure 1, seat assembly 10 overlies the base member 11 and is supported thereby. Alternatively when the sofa-bed is arranged as a bed, as shown in Figure 2, there is provided a pair of foldable legs 16 supporting the forward end of seat assembly 16. Foldable legs 16 are positioned at the front corners of seat assembly 10 and are adapted to retract beneath the seat when it is positioned as in Figure 1. Back assembly 13 forms with seat assembly 10 at an angle of approximately 120 degrees, being maintained in this position by means of a hinge structure to be described more in detail in connection with Figure 4.

Side members 12 are joined at right angles to has member 11 and project vertically a small distance above seat assembly 1% in Figure 1 or back assembly 13 in Figure 2. The top surfaces of the respective side members 12 are inclined towards seat assembly 1% or back assembly 11 so that arms 14 which overlie these surfaces are similarly inclined. By extending arms 14 slightly beyond the side surfaces of the respective side members 12, there is provided not only a comfortable arm rest, but also a pillow or head rest. In this way the usable length of the sofa-bed for a person in a reclining position is effectively increased.

Referring to Figure 3, there is illustrated an auxiliary arm 1'7 conforming in size and shape to arms 14- and serv ing as a pillow rest in combination with seat assembly 10, when seat 10 is pulled away from base member 11 to form a bed. Arm 17 is readily detachable from seat assembly 10 when the sofa-bed is to be arranged as in Figure 1. To accomplish this purpose, a pair of substantially Z-shaped brackets 18 are secured to the under surface of arm 17 so that their respective central portions are aligned substantially parallel to the sides of arms 17. That is to say, one of the end portions of each bracket 18 is joined to the under surface of arm 17. Each central portion then extends below arm 17 parallel to the sides thereof. The other end portion of each bracket 18 extends away from arm 171 very nearly perpendicular to its sides, and is inserted into a slot shaped recess on the underside of seat assembly 10. This slot shaped recess may be conveniently formed with a metallic strap 19 which is spaced a small distance away from the underside of seat assembly 10. Although this method of securing arm 17 to seat assembly 10 is preferred owing to its simplicity and ease of manufacture, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other means within the scope of this invention may also be used for this purpose; namely to detachably connect arm 17 to seat assembly 10 in a manner whereby one of the arms 14 is effectively extended for the full width of the bed.

Figure 4 illustrates in detail the hinge structure utilized for supporting back assembly 13 and for reorienting back assembly 13 in the same plane as seat assembly 10. To this end, the hinge structure includes two connecting bars 21 and 22. Connecting bar 21 is pivotally joined to back assembly 13 at one of its ends and to base member 11 at the other of its ends. Mounting plates 26 and 28 respectively are used for this purpose. Connecting bar 22 is also pivotally joined to base member 11 at one of its ends and to both seat and back assemblies 10 and 13 at the other of its ends, seat assembly 10 being provided with a mounting plate 27 similar to plates 26 and 28. Finally a stop 25 engages connecting bar 22 so as to maintain back assembly 13 erect as shown in Figure 4. When it is desired to convert to a bed, back assembly 13 is pushed forward and downward with the result that seat assembly 13 moves forward and upward. Upon completing this process, legs 16 are lowered into position and a stop for seat assembly 10 released, thereby permitting seat assembly 10 to be lowered into a horizontal position. In order that this conversion to a bed may be carried out with a minimum of physical effort, there is also included a counterbalancing spring 23 connected between base members 11 and a tab 24 provided at the lower extremity of connecting bar 21.

Referring now to Figure it is seen that the seat assembly includes an upholstery covering 31 over a foam 5 rubber mattress 32. Mattress 32 covers the top and a portion of the sides of seat assembly 10 which, in essence, is similar to a conventional box-spring. In particular, the foam rubber is moulded to the contour of the box-spring so as to provide a unitary structure particularly suited for supporting one or more persons in a sitting or reclining 'tion. To insure this result, a tacking strip of cloth is cemented to the lower edge of the mattress 32 and tacked to the sides of the box-spring. Although for simplicity, only the structure of the seat assembly 10 has been illustrated, back assembly 13 is also constructed in this manner. The foam rubber mattress 32 is comprised of a body portion 37 and flanges 38. By the use of the flanges 3-3 the seat assembly 10 is completely incased and the mattress 32 is prevented from becoming misaligned. Another important feature of applicants foam rubber mattress is the great saving of space resulting from being able to stack the mattresses on top of each other prior to the bending of the edges to form the box structure as previously mentioned.

With reference to Figure 6, it is seen that the upholstery coverings 31 associated with seat assembly 10 and back assembly 13 are joined to the respective assemblies by means of stretch cloths 35 and 36. At one of their ends, these stretch cloths are sewn not only to the respective coverings 31 but also to each other. In turn, they are brought between and thence under the back and seat assemblies respectively where they are cemented or tacked. In this way, the coverings 31 are maintained particularly taut irrespective of the orientation of the back and seat. Consequently the joint between the back and seat assemblies 13, 10 when oriented coplanarly presents little or no discomfiture to a person reclining thereon; and in either orientation, the appearance of the sofa-bed is greatly enhanced.

What is claimed is:

In a sofa bed having a seat, a seat assembly comprising a base of rectangular outline and substantially uniform rectangular cross section, coil springs therein, a molded foam rubber mattress element having circumferential lips encasing said base and coil springs and preventing movement between said coil springs and said foam rubber mattress elements, and means for securing the sides of said mattress elements to the sides of said seat, said last-named means including a circumferential strip of flexible material secured to the lips and to the base in tensioned relation of the foam rubber to the coil springs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 65 607,182 Markel July 12, 1898 1,414,833 Rothfield May 2, 1922 2,019,266 Meilves Oct. 29, 1935 2,231,732 Nachman et al Feb. 11, 1941 2,314,608 Cunningham et al. Mar. 23, 1943 2,323,794 Clark July 6, 1943 2,359,003 Sawyer Sept. 26, 1944 2,371,954 Cunningham Mar. 20, 1945 2,654,099 Ake et a1. Oct. 6, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 171,200 Austria May 10, 1952 519,297 Great Britain Mar. 21, 1940 535,895 France Apr. 22, 1922 

